Category: Podcast

Today’s podcast discusses the ups, downs, and outs of the problem of pain. Without problems to solve, life would get dull fairly quickly, but when you don’t know to address problems productively, then all you get from them is stress, anxiety, and depression. Adding one more secret ingredient changes everything, so listen up and find out what it is!

With practice, you’ll develop the one character trait that makes life easier and more enjoyable, despite challenges.

Today’s podcast asks whether you’re living an inspiring life, then explains how to do that by choosing the better of the two motivations (hint: I’m not referring to love and fear). You also get a story of walking with young pioneers in disappointingly pleasant weather and you’ll learn a little bit about self actualization.

P.S. one of the “family” groups spent much of their walking time solving riddles, so I made up a brand new one. See how quickly you can figure this out:

I carry life on my back between the stars,
I’ll fight you both ways, my arms against yours.
No matter how far you walk, or how fast you run,
We’ll never reach our next destination.

A handcart. It carries your survival gear. The wheels and spokes are like stars. Both ways = uphill and down. Our next destination is the horizon, and we’ll never reach it because it keeps moving farther away….

What moments have changed your life’s direction, for better or worse? What events shaped your future and turned you into the person you are now? Have you ever created major changes in life without some external impetus to force your hand?

What if you could change anything about your life right now? What would you change? Think it over!

One of the most important traits you can develop is confidence. It makes you more attractive. It gives you the courage to live your dreams. It smooths out dozens of small bumps in the road of life and helps you progress much faster toward your inherent potential.

With that in mind, here are a few stories of confidence-related pivotal moments to help you process the concept. PLEASE SHARE your own pivotal moments in the comments sections below! Everyone would love to hear and learn from them.

A Scout is…Confident?

I went to scout camp the summer before 9th grade, and sitting around the fire one afternoon, Coy started spitting watermelon seeds at me as he ate. Coy was one of the “cool” kids and I was not. After several seeds, something in me snapped – something small at first, then bigger. “If you spit one more seed at me,” I warned, “I’ll beat the crap out of you.” Coy calmly took another bite of melon, chewed, then spit a seed at me. Read more “Pivotal Moments: Confidence”→

Spirituality means many things to many people, yet most spiritual traditions have much in common regarding the experience of spirituality, even when beliefs and interpretations differ. One such commonality is the Principle of Peace.

We live our lives much like a sailboat on the ocean. We may think we’re in control of our lives, yet most everything around us – the sky and sea shifting above and below – remains largely a mystery. Winds and currents shove us this way and that. We can set our sails and grab the tiller to steer a course, but storms and doldrums can upset the best laid plans.

Yet despite the inherent uncontrollable nature of life, and even in the midst of the storm, our spirituality can bring us immense peace.

I once took a 5-week, 2,500 mile ocean voyage from Aruba to Acapulco as first mate aboard a 53′ sailboat. While crossing the stormy Gulf of Tehuantepec, a gale blew for 14 hours and several times, the 50 knot winds and 15′ waves flipped our boat on its side.

To make a long story short, I was getting worried and said a little prayer. I then instantly knew two things – that the storm would continue for a while yet, and that we’d make it through just fine. From that point on, my worries ceased completely.

How does this work? How can we obtain peace and joy even when the world around us is in turmoil?

For one thing, the Divine, no matter what you call it – the Creator, a Heavenly Father and Jesus, the Universe, or otherwise – has such power and wisdom that from its perspective, everything is okay, or at least it will turn out okay in the end.

Our most difficult challenges and trials could be compared to a child who sees life as most certainly not okay when it has to go to bed or when you don’t buy it candy. As an adult, you know it’s not the end of the world.

As adults, our trials seem just as serious as they did as children, and we continue to lack an even more advanced perspective to evaluate them from. The Divine certainly doesn’t enjoy watching us suffer, but from its perspective, our struggles are often no more serious than the short-sighted child’s.

When we make a connection with the Divine, which forms the basis of personal spirituality, we often capture of glimpse of that viewpoint and experience a portion of its peaceful perspective. With experience, we learn to trust that assurance, and we continue forward with greater courage and hope even when all we see are storm waves from horizon to horizon.

Homework: seek a connection with the divine, and when you attain it, reconsider your sense of self and perspectives on the world around you in light of that peace. What does it teach you about ultimate reality? How does it change your perspective and encourage you to trust that everything is ultimately okay despite temporary challenges?

We discuss how this reveals an important way to love yourself by not putting up with your brain’s silly doubting games and swap that in for unapologetic belief in yourself and devotion to your well being.

Admit it – it’s hard to forgive those who have wronged you. What were they thinking??? What gives them the right??? HOW DARE THEY???

Worst of all, it doesn’t end there. Not only did they do you wrong, but now you’re left holding the bag, feeling angry and hurt and bitter, and now you’re supposed to forgive them when they haven’t even apologized profusely, lavished you with expensive and classy gifts, and groveled in the mud, begging and sobbing for your forgiveness?

The sad fact is that people are people, and people are imperfect. Lucky for you, you are a far superior being to those evil-doers, and you want to forgive them, even when they don’t deserve it.